1814

one

LONDON- 2021
'Diana! Darling, we need to go!' My mum shouted up the stairs while attempting to put the other half of my sister Emily's hair in a plait to match the other side. I was in my room getting frustrated trying to pin up a small section of hair that just wouldn't co - operate with the Bobby pin.

'Mum I'm coming, Just give me two pissing minutes!' Shouted back before letting out a loudly whispered 'fuck!'. I gave into the hair and decided to just have it down, which didn't look bad but I would've fathered the other hairstyle.

^^(Diana's outfit)

Once I was downstairs my Mum, Dad and little sister were all waiting for me as if they had been there for about an hour. I mean, they probably have, but that's not the point. 'Sorry!' I said awkwardly tugging at the end of my lips.

Today we were visiting an old regency house built in 1804, but that's all I need to know to figure that it isn't going to be the most thrilling trip of my life. Yet thinking about it, for some weird reason it almost feels like there's a string that been tied around my waist and the house on the other end is pulling me towards it. Then again, that might just be the dodgy fish and chips we had last night - knew we should have gone there. My nose scrunches from disgust at the thought and I grab my coat closing the door behind me and following my family to the car.

The house was somewhere in Kent which meant a long drive ahead and I had forgotten my head phones. I'm 17 and I can't even remember some sodding headphones. This meant I had to listen to my sister whinge about how we hadn't listened to 'into the unknown' enough times.

It was the only things we had been listening to for the past 45 minutes.

Though the thought of only being fifteen minutes away did finally bring me some relief.

Once we arrived we were greeted by a man. Look led 60 odd but I couldn't really tell. He wore a white shirt with a red waistcoat over it. He clearly works here, and by the looks of it he was going to be our tour guide as well. We couldn't even get a good looking tour guide to distract me from the pain and suffering i was about to endure listening to stories about how bricks were laid in the 19th century.

'Ahhh! You must be the Haywards!' He spoke walking over to us arms open. 'Did you know that your surname is in fact a regency surname? And the house we are viewing today is actually called 'Haywood' house!' He added laughing and shaking his pointed finger at us. 'I did not know that, but it's very good to know.' My mum replied, holding Emily's hand. My dad came up behind me and placed both hands on my shoulders before lowering his voice to say 'how many 'did you knows' do you think there will be today?' I let out a small stifle and bugged him in the side.

The tour guide had to take us down a few paths before we actually came face to face with the house. I took in a sharp breath surprised at the fact that it seemed so familiar to me. Almost like I've walked past it everyday of my life and today is no different. Strange.

'This is Haywood House! Building started in 1804 and all the interior finished in 1808. But it was only 1813 before a family of 7 moved in.' He stated.

For some reason it brought a smile to my face imagining what it was like then and how everyone in the family looked. I was intrigued to know more.

'They of course we're the Haywoods as well, funny that. A mother, a father 3 sons and 2 daughters. Now, we don't know the exact names of the people, but we do know that they were a very well known and wealthy family. Anyone watched Bridgerton on Netflix?' He asked. Me, my mum and my dad all raised our hands slowly and confused. 'They were like them basically' he added no longer following what was clearly a script in his head. We all nodded finally understanding.

He took us into the house and entering it was like entering a whole new world. The smell, the taste, everything. And I still couldn't shake the sense of familiarity.

When I touched walls or my hand brushed against a piece of furniture, goosebumps would cover my whole body and all the hairs on my arm would stick up. I was really confused and starting to feel slightly uncomfortable. I genuinely felt like I needed to leave the house so I told my dad I needed to take minute outside and he nodded assuring me it was ok to leave. When I got outside i even had to get off the front porch and stand in the grass instead.

Am I on edge? Is this some sort of anxiety attack? I was so confused and I didn't know what was happening to me. The goosebumps hadn't gone away and I realised I had been tensing up this whole time. I released my contracted muscles and took a few deep breaths. I decided I was relaxed to go back to my family and the tour.

When I entered the house I couldn't see them anywhere. Not even the tour guide. I walked around for a bit before calling out 'mummmmm! Where did you all go?'

No reply.

If they were in the house they would have heard that.

I was starting to panic and my vision became blurry in an instant. At this point I was running up and down stairs bursting into rooms, even calling out Emily at points. Tears were streaming down my face. I get very paranoid easily if I don't think something is right. And my gut was telling me that something was wrong. I pulled out my phone and tried to call my mum but there was no reception. My phone was trembling in my hands and I could really see what I was doing. 'agh for fucks sake' i whimpered using the bottom of my thumb to wipe away the tears on my cheeks.

All of a sudden, the house started to shake. Pictures were falling off walls and vases were falling off shattering all over the floor. I was trying to dodge everything that could have caused me harm but it felt like the whole house was going to come down.

but there it was.

In front of me shone a small blue light that was growing bigger by the second. I had to cover my scared, red eyes slightly because it was so bright. Whispers were coming from the light but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying except from 'Diana'. What felt like a  magnetic pull made me go steps closer, it was now only a bit bigger than me but it seemed like it had stopped growing. 'Diana' was repeated and I was now only centimetres away. And before I knew it...

... I was walking through the light.